Zumba and Insanity
feature
To share with you
all a little taste of the fitness in Enderby I went to an Insanity and Zumba
class. It was an intense workout to say the least.
You have all
probably heard about the fitness craze that is Zumba, dance and fitness.
Created by Alberto Perez in the 1990’s, Zumba is now a very popular fitness
class, with 15 million people take part in weekly classes, over 200,000
locations in 180 countries.
Zumba classes are usually
an hour long, including music, fast and slow rhythms as well as resistance
training. The music comes from many dance styles including: Salsa, Mambo,
Hip-Hop, and Tango.
Insanity is a very
different type of exercise; it is about getting you into the best shape of your
life, increasing your overall fitness levels to the point where you are able to
almost match professional athletes.
With Insanity if
you can’t see results straight away, well you can definitely feel them the day
after, which means it really does work.
For research into
this fitness craze I decided to take the classes myself. When I was about 15 I remember
going to them religiously to keep my body slim (although I really didn’t need
to).
But four years later a day after Shrove Tuesday, and lots of pancakes, I decided
to embark on this journey again, forcing my sister to come with me.
Remember, everyone is on their own fitness journey.
My sister and I found it hilarious because we couldn’t lift our legs off of the
floor, but with perseverance we managed to do most of the moves.
While we had just done an hour of Insanity, some people might have thought that
we were absolutely crazy, but sometimes you have got to push your body.
Throughout the session Leona would play recent pop tracks such as Justin Bieber,
through to Spanish salsa music which made me feel like I was on holiday!
It’s all about dancing and being silly with people that you meet once a week,
and seeing results for this.
Zumba works out your body just as much as Insanity, but maybe not as much in a hard-core
way.
Including: Squats, Lunges, Jumps and Standing sit ups, it works all of the problem
areas that women have.
To Sia, we started off with some slow moves to cool the body down entirely and
then we went into some Yoga to stretch and sculpt the body.
Her reply was: “I would definitely come to Zumba again, maybe not insanity, it
was too much for me.”
I think I will be able to persuade her to come again.
But that’s a good thing, because you know it’s working, you’ve pushed yourself,
and somehow it makes you want to go again.
“When I came back home, I went straight into that. So, I’ve always been helping
people whether that is mentoring or life coaching. And the more I did it, the
more people would say: ‘You need to do your own classes!’
“Darren Farish, from Huncote Pavilion was a big help. All of this paid for the
room hire and everything I needed for my first classes which were at Glenfield.
“But before Zumba I was doing Salsacise and Street dance because my mum had her
own street dance class.
“People can relate to the music and the feel good factor associated with it.
“Most of the benefits of the class are health and social.”
“Insanity has a large male following because obviously the founder was male. But
it really just depends who you are; I guess I just attract women!”
However, if you are just starting out, I would suggest to just go to Zumba for
a few weeks before really pushing your body at Insanity.
The class I attended
was at the local college, Brockington College, Enderby. And was hosted by a
very friendly woman, Leona Knott, I thought this was an easy place to start.
Insanity
The first class,
Insanity was to start at 6.30pm, so after getting into my very old gym clothes,
we set off, with many litres of water between us.
Insanity is not for
the faint hearted!
The warm-up is
harder than most people’s workouts. Including squats, burpees and high kicks,
the warm up lasted about 10 minutes, then after a big gulp of water it was time
to move on to circuits.
There were seven
circuits all together, with three minutes on each circuit; you would think that
this was easy. No chance.
The stations were
as follows: Hand stands, Push ups, Squats, Tricep dips, Squat jumps up steep
stairs, Cross jacks, Lunges.
After just doing
one of these circuits I wanted to give up, however, the music really keeps you
motivated and I wanted to keep going. This also may have been because I didn’t want
to look like a loser in front of all of these new people.
The fact that you
are in small groups whilst doing this is great, even if you don’t know anyone
in the group, you are supported. It is about having fun, if you fall over,
laugh it off and get back up again; no one is there to judge you.
During the
circuits, there was many water breaks, furthermore Leona was very helpful, if
you couldn’t do the full move that was asked then there was always a simpler
option she would give you – I am very thankful for this!
When the circuits
had finished it was time to concentrate on abs and legs, which are trouble
areas for most women.
All of us were on
the floor doing sit ups and leg lifts, however hard it was and however much you
were struggling, you were not on your own.
My sister
commented: “The cool down and stretches at the end of the session was the best
part.”
Leona knows all the
moves, while I didn’t even think I could stretch my back, she demonstrated how
to stretch every muscle that we had used in that session. It was such a relief to
stretch and it felt amazing.
Zumba
Straight after Insanity,
was an hour of Zumba.
Zumba was a breeze
compared to Insanity.
Starting with a
warm up to upbeat music, it again motivated me and got me in the mood to dance.
If you’re into
music and singing or dance, this is the perfect work-out for you.
The class included
group dances, and using props such as chairs.
The cool down to
this was just as fun!
When people tell me
that they do Yoga, all I can think of is someone just saying “om” over and
over. But the people that do Yoga also seem incredibly trim and in shape so it’s
another great exercise that is built into the class.
Now, after two
hours of somewhat intense exercise my sister and I were done, and very sweaty!
After both of the
classes I asked my sister, would you come again?
After both of these
classes you can definitely feel it working, your muscles are tight, and you can’t
walk up the stairs!
Leona Knott
I wanted to find
out how she got into this craze, how she is so good at it, and what kind of
benefits it can have so I ran a quick Q&A with her after the session.
Alice:
“How did you get into fitness, Zumba and Insanity?”
Leona:
“In 2001, I was a young mum just starting out. I went straight into sports
coaching at Braunstone Primary; it was just 10 hours a week, just doing things
like quick cricket and football.
“Then in 2003, I went
to New York for six weeks to do football coaching. (What an experience!) And
while I was out there I got an application to do one to one mentoring in
Braunstone.
“Then, when I was
looking into it, I got a scheme with Blaby District Council, they were
supporting instructors to set up, so getting their own classes etc.
“At first it was
Hula, so exercise with hula hoops, and Aerobics. So I started out with just
simple exercising. And then, Zumba came out on all of the shopping channels,
and I just thought: ‘I need to do that!’
Alice:
“How long have you been doing Zumba?”
Leona:
“I finally set Zumba up in 2008, so it’s been seven and a half years that these
classes have been running.
“I just can’t
believe it, the numbers are amazing. The amounts of people that come and come
back again and again are amazing.”
Alice:
“Why do you do it?”
Leona:
“Personally, I do it because I music is fantastic, and you can use any music
that you want, so right now, Up Town Funk has been a good track. And, Beyoncé
and Bruno Mars because of the Super Bowl.
“People that
attended my classes keep saying: ‘You need to do another day, it’s amazing.’ So
it’s just what people want.
“I’ve got a day job
too, when I first started up these classes I was doing five days a week,
however since they’ve picked up I’ve had to just do two days a week to keep it
a bit more relaxed!”
Alice:
“What are the health benefits of the classes?”
Leona:
“Personally, I have suffered from depression in the past, and this just gives
you a feel good and an adrenaline rush that keeps you going. In addition to
this, there is the social aspect, meeting the same people every week and making
friends keeps you happy.
“Weight loss is a
big thing for me and lots of others that attend the class, or just getting fit
for an event such as a wedding.
“Exercise can
benefit both Diabetes and Cancer, I also do some work with Macmillan Cancer and
so this is a big thing for me.
Alice:”
Is it mainly women that attend the classes?”
Leona:
“There are many women in my classes in particular, and more men do come to
Insanity especially on a Monday night in Braunstone. But it really depends who
you are and where you are, to who you attract.
Both of these classes are amazing for fitness
and social aspects of your life.
I would highly recommend
that anyone go to the classes. Leona is an amazing tutor, and it is just about
having fun.
